7 Exercises
for Rapid Strength
Tate's
Powerlifting Toolbox III
by Dave Tate
Over the past few years I've seen
many lifters and coaches discussing
the seemingly strange movements I
prescribe for strength development.
Many of these guys are grasping the
big picture but missing many of the
finer points. To remedy this, I've
written this "toolbox"
series to help experienced lifters
fill in the blanks and newer lifters
learn about some very effective
exercises.
You'll notice that
many of the movements in this toolbox
are "assistance" or
"accessory" exercises
designed to assist the big lifts:
squat, deadlift and bench press. This
all goes back to a fundamental truth
in strength training: to get
stronger, a lifter must discover his
weak points, then work to bring them
up. These exercises will do just
that!
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Abdominals and Obliques
Exercise Description:
The movement is performed on your
standard lat machine with the use of
a single D-handle. This is one of the
best movements I've found to target
the muscles of the obliques in a very
unique way.
You begin by standing
with your side to the machine. Grab
the D-handle and pull it down to your
side so your arm is locked straight
to the side. From here perform the
same movement as you would a one-arm
dumbbell side bend. The difference
with this is the resistance is now
opposite what it would be with
dumbbells. The tension is now on the
downward phase.
Before you begin,
tighten your abdominals and obliques.
Now bend to the side and make sure to
keep a controlled tempo. Flex your
obliques very hard when you reach the
midpoint and keep your upper body
erect. Return to the start position
slowly while keeping as much tension
on the obliques as you can.
When you complete the
set you'll then switch sides. I've
found this movement works very well
when performed two ways. The first
way is to train very heavy for 6-8
reps. Another method that seems to
work very well is to keep the weight
light for sets in the 30-60 second
range.
• Going too
heavy. This may cause you to
break form and begin to bend
forward.
• Using too
fast of a training tempo. Keep
the tempo slow and controlled,
making sure to keep tension on
the muscle.
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Hamstrings and Lower Back
Exercise Description:
This exercise helped Matt Dimel
increase his squat from the mid-800’s
to over 1000 pounds in a two year
period. To perform this exercise,
grab a barbell with an overhand grip,
hands about shoulder-width apart.
Pull the bar up to a standing
position.
At this point, arch
your back and get your abs tight.
Keep the back as arched as possible,
push the glutes out, and keep the
knees slightly bent. Lower the bar by
pushing your body weight back onto
your heals while pushing your glutes
out. Try to lower the barbell to a
position just past the knees. At this
point you should feel a tremendous
stretch in the glutes and hamstrings.
Raise by contracting
your glutes first. At the top of the
movement, contract the glutes as hard
as possible. Perform the exercise in
a ballistic fashion. You want to drop
to the midpoint position and explode
back to the starting position. This
is best trained with moderate weight
for sets of 15-20 reps.
• Going too
low. Make sure to keep the
tension on the hamstrings.
• Not pushing
the hips and glutes back. This is
also to keep the stress on the
hamstrings.
• Rounding
the back. Keep your back arched
to help keep the stress on the
hamstrings.
• Using a
slow tempo. This movement is
designed to be trained fast.
You'll begin with a slow tempo
and build the speed up with each
additional repetition.
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Torso
Exercise Description:
This exercise is designed to isolate
the obliques. To begin, lie on your
back with your hands over your head
holding onto a heavy object. Pull
both knees toward your chest in a
tucked position. Keeping this tucked
position, roll your knees to the left
side until they touch the floor, then
rotate back to the center and finally
to the right.
You must keep your
shoulder blades on the floor. If you
want to increase the difficulty,
perform the same movement with your
legs straight.
• Letting
your shoulder break the floor.
Keep your shoulders on the floor
even if it means you won't be
able to reach a full range of
motion.
Category: Max Effort
Muscles Targeted:
Hamstrings, Lower Back, Hips and
Quads
Exercise Description:
The cambered squat bar is an
excellent variation to a straight bar
for several reasons. First, because
of the camber of the bar, there's
more stress on your posterior chain
and less on your upper back. Because
your hands are near your waist when
squatting, it's very difficult to
squeeze your upper back. This will
force you to keep your middle and
upper back arched.
Second, the cambered
squat bar is great to relieve stress
on your shoulders. With a straight
bar, your shoulders are held
statically in an external rotation.
This stress can be grueling for a
larger lifter and those wishing to
increase their bench press.
Finally, the cambered
squat bar requires you to remain
extremely tight when you squat. This
is because the weight tends to swing
forward and back when lifting. The
box height can vary when using this
bar: below parallel, parallel, or
several inches above. A close to
medium stance is used when using the
cambered squat on max effort day.
• Rocking on
the box. Sit solid, pause for one
second, and squat up.
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Exercise Description:
This movement is performed by setting
up Blast Straps around the top of a
power rack or other stable object.
You can set the handles as close or
far away from the floor as you'd
like. The closer to the floor, the
harder the movement will be.
I've found it best to
set the straps 4-6 inches off the
floor. With this set-up you'll be
able to get a very deep stretch and
increase the range of motion,
something you can't do with a barbell
or a standard push-up.
Grab the handles and
set your body up in a standard
push-up position. Make sure your
torso is rigid; don't allow your
lower back to sag or raise your
glutes in the air. Strive to keep
your shoulders, hips and knees in a
straight line. If you have difficulty
maintaining this position, you can
perform the push-ups while on your
knees. This is often caused by a lack
of ab and low back strength. (I often
use the suspended push-up position to
access core strength in athletes.)
To increase the
difficulty of this exercise, try
placing your feet on an elevated
surface or a stability ball. Placing
an exercise band behind your back is
another great way to make this
exercise more challenging. I've also
found that using a variety of hand
and elbow positions during your sets
allows for great versatility.
• Rounding
your back. This should be common
sense, but I see it all the time.
Keep your damn back straight.
• Not using a
full range of motion. One reason
for the straps is to allow you to
go deep. Note: If you have
shoulder problems or it hurts to
go too low, then be smart, don't
do it!
• Setting the
straps too high. Unless you're
pathetic and can’t do a
push-up, then drop the straps
down close to the floor.
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Obliques and Abdominals
Exercise Description:
Begin this exercise in the same
position as the suspended push-up.
With a slight bend in your elbows,
raise your hands over your head.
Again, only go as low as you feel
comfortable. Your goal should be to
have your hands, shoulders, hips and
knees in a straight line.
The motion is very
similar to an ab wheel but even more
difficult! Think of it as a jacked-up
abdominal wheel. This exercise is
great for your abs, shoulders and
lats. When you lower yourself, be
sure to stay tight and to lower
slowly.
• Rounding
your back at the bottom. Keep
your back straight and abs tight
at the bottom.
• Forcing it.
Just go as far as you can. You'll
get stronger in time; there's no
need to force what's not there.
Category: Supplemental
and Accessory
Muscles Targeted:
Fingers and Forearms
Exercise Description:
This is really a very simple
movement. Get a big bucket and fill
it with rice. I've also seen rubber
chips, metal shot and sand used. The
metal shot is hardcore and should
only be used by those with a very
strong grip to begin with. Rice is
your best bet as it's the easiest to
use and you can always progress up to
the sand from there.
I made mine with a big
laundry tub I found at the dollar
store and a huge bag of rice from Sam’s
club. Once you get it set up all you
do is dig your hands in and begin
squeezing. Pretty simple stuff,
nothing too complicated.
I've also found I get
great results when I twist my wrists
both clockwise and counterclockwise
as I squeeze. This is best done to
failure at the end of your training
session, so get digging!
I understand that many
of these movements may require
equipment you don't have. I'm not
using this as a sales pitch (well,
maybe a little bit!), but I'd be a
fool to not tell you that you can get
all of these items at www.elitefts.com.
The thing is that many
of the movements we do require
different types of equipment. With
these articles I'm trying to blend a
mix of movements you can do with and
without the use of special equipment.
I'm including all items because
there's a large number of you who do
have this equipment and may not be
using them to the best of your
ability.
Until next time, keep
training hard, bring up your weak
points, and set some damn PR’s!
